OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – This is an ideal time for nature watchers to get a close-up view of salmon migrating back to the North Olympic Peninsula streams of their birth to spawn.
Salmon returning now are pinks (humpies), chinook (king salmon) and coho (silver salmon).
In late fall and winter, a huge run of chum salmon will fill Hood Canal-area streams.
The best place for residents to get a front-row seat to see the migrating salmon runs is at the Salmon Cascades in the Sol Duc area of Olympic National Park.
Friends of Olympic National Park are inviting the public to attend a free salmon watching event at the Salmon Cascades from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday.
Dick Goin, well-known Peninsula fish expert and Dick Kott, a Friends board member, will be there to share their knowledge as the coho fight their way to spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the Sol Duc River.
The presentation is completely free of charge. As part of National Public Lands Day on Saturday, the national park will waive its entrance fees for the day.
A collection of boulders and small shoots at the cascades give viewers the chance to see the coho leaping through the water.
